FIU students get a glance at the spy life

Intelligence agencies need 10,000 recruits in next year

Miami — There was nothing clandestine about what was going on Monday in a second-floor meeting room packed with students: Eight of the nation's 16 intelligence agencies were looking for spies.

And Hallandale Beach resident Johanne Civil, 27, a Florida International University senior, was looking to the future.

"I'd like a job that is more than paper pushing," said Civil, who also works full time for a credit card company in Plantation. "My main interest would be foreign service. But would I be a spy? How much you going to pay me?"

Civil was just one of about 75 FIU students who turned out for an Intelligence Community Career Expo hosted by the school's Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship Studies. Recruiters from the Central Intelligence Agency, the FBI, the National Security Agency and five other federal organizations gave overviews of the work involved and then chatted one-on-one with those who wanted to know more.

A year ago, in swearing in retired Vice Admiral Mike McConnell as director of national intelligence, President Bush emphasized the need for more minority hires with the language skills and cultural background that might help track terrorists. About half of those who attended the session in the Graham Center were women, and many were foreign-born.

Bill Cottrell, a 35-year employee of the NSA, explained that cloak-and-dagger spying is just a small part of what the agencies do. Much of the intelligence work in this high-tech, post-Sept. 11 era is in data analysis.

FIU is a good place to look for potential hires since the state school was one of the first four universities selected three years ago to offer certificates in national securities studies, according to David Twigg, the institute's associate director. There are now 10 such sites.

Many of those in attendance were working on the necessary 18 credit hours to earn such a certificate. But others, such as Joseph Arigo, 29, and Robby Cedon, 26, were simply interested in careers that Cottrell touted as satisfying and vital to the nation's well-being.

"We get up every day knowing that what we do helps the country," said Cottrell, who said the 16 agencies would fill about 10,000 jobs in the next year to expand the services while coping with Baby Boomers' retirement.

Cedon, a Miami resident and U.S. Marine Corps veteran of three tours in Iraq, said he speaks Creole and French and was interested in a diplomatic mission.

West Palm Beach resident Arigo, a senior geography major, planned to gather information from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency representative. But when asked about being a spy, he, too, seemed willing to entertain the notion.

"I've got that baby face," he said with a smile. "So you never know."

Rattling off a list of exotic-sounding languages that would enhance a candidate's chances, Cottrell warned the group that the screening process was exhaustive. He said personal investigations included foreign relationships, travel, drug use, financial problems and every aspect of an applicant's life.